


Half-Kin

by Inkspill2



Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BloodClan (Warriors), F/F, F/M, Gen, Half Brothers, M/M, Rivalry, Swearing, The Prophecies Begin: Book 1: Into the Wild, firestar's POV, scourge's POV, the clans know about bloodclan
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:15:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28742355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkspill2/pseuds/Inkspill2
Summary: A story of rivalry between Firestar and Scourge. Not canon compliant, and there will be many surprises along the way as I tweak canon to suit my needs.
Relationships: Barley/Ravenpaw (Warriors), Firestar & Scourge (Warriors), Firestar/Sandstorm (Warriors), Graystripe/Silverstream (Warriors)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	Half-Kin

Rusty felt the fur on the back of his neck bristling as he ducked his head low, sniffing the sidewalk. There was an eerie feeling about this place, like a dream he could only remember a fragment of. His paws were silent as he padded into the shadows.

There was a growl from behind him, and he twisted around, eyes wide. A large black-and-white tom was towering over him. He wore a collar spiked with teeth and claws.

Rusty took a few steps back, ducking as the cat swiped at him, growling more.

"I'm not letting a pampered house pet take any of my food," the cat snarled. "Get out of here, scram."

"I'm not here for your food," Rusty said. "I- I want to talk to Scourge."

"Oh, so I suppose you want to move in around here?" the cat sneered, moving closer until he was cornering Rusty against the brick wall. "Fuck off, house pet."

The tom looked like he was about to back off when Rusty unsheathed his claws and attacked. He swiped the tom's face, leaving a long gash above his nose. The cat's eyes widened.

"I'll make you into my fucking bedding, kit," the tom snarled, rearing up on his hind legs.

"Oh, come on, Bone," a ginger tom strode into the alley, his whiskers twitching. "He's pretty tough for a house pet. Maybe we should let him see Scourge."

Bone slowly sheathed his claws and reluctantly stood up, blood dripping from the scratch on his face. "Very well, then, Brick. Take him to Scourge."

Brick shrugged and started further down the alley, not checking to see if Rusty followed. Rusty scrambled after him, eyes still wide. What was he getting himself into?

Situated at the end of the alleyway was a very large dumpster, with a very small cat seated on top.

"Hm?" the cat's eyes flashed as they hit the light.

"This kitten wanted to see you," Brick said, stepping back. The cat sat up, staring down at Rusty.

"You're Scourge, right?" Rusty said, shifting his paws a bit.

The cat's stare became more intense. "Yes, I'm Scourge."

"I'm Rusty," Rusty said. "Um... my friend told me about you, and how you are the leader of the alley cats, and how you're Jake's son."

Scourge's ears flattened. "What does it matter to you, house pet?"

"Jake was my father, too," Rusty said, looking down. "I was... wondering if you wanted to talk."

Scourge hopped down from the dumpster, looking Rusty over. "I never saw my father before. Not for real." he gave Rusty a cautious sniff. "But... I suppose... you _smell_ like kin." the small cat sighed and turned away.

"Um- I've never really seen a group of cats living together like this," Rusty said. "It's really... cool, I mean, to not have to rely on housefolk."

Scourge twitched his ear a bit. "I have to admit, I'm surprised Bone and Brick let a tame house pet speak to me."

"I guess they were surprised, because I..." Rusty ducked his head slightly. "I gave Bone a pretty nasty scratch."

Scourge suddenly turned around, eyes wide. "You actually harmed Bone?" he took a few steps toward Rusty, glancing him over. "...I see."

"Weren't you a house cat once?" Rusty said, somewhat tentatively. "I mean- you have a collar."

Scourge glared, flattening his ears. "Yes, of course I was." he hissed. "But I couldn't stay."

"I... understand," Rusty said, taking a step back. "I've been thinking of leaving my housefolk. Honestly, part of why I came was... I heard you were living all on your own out here, wild and free. I wondered if seeing my kin being able to do that... would make me feel like I could, too."

Scourge stared at the ground, then flicked his tail. "Some advice? The housefolk aren't your friends." he flicked a half-eaten piece of chicken in Rusty's direction. "Here. Eat."

"Oh- uh, thank you," Rusty said, dipping his head and taking a bite.

"We're disposable to them," Scourge said. "Tame house pets don't realize that. If they don't want you anymore, they're eager to get rid of you."

Rusty swallowed his chicken, lowering his ears. "But-"

"You're complicit in whatever they want, because you're their _pet_ ," Scourge snarled the word like it was a curse. "You think you're any more special than me or any of these other cats? You think your housefolk want you?"

"Well... how did you escape, Scourge?" Rusty said. "How did you start living on your own like this?"

Scourge looked down at his paws, before turning away and lashing his tail. "Look. You have a pretty good chance of living in the wild. You're braver than most kittypets. But you don't hold anything back. You're too bold. Learn to keep your head down or you're going to get killed."

Rusty hesitantly looked down at his paws.

"Is that all?"

"Yes, Scourge," he dipped his head. "Thank you."

He turned to leave, right as a group of cats came padding down the alley, smelling like the forest. There were three of them- a golden tom, a huge white tom, and a young cat, about Rusty's age, fluffy and gray.

"Sorry to bother you, Scourge," the golden tom said, dipping his head.

"Forest cats, again," Scourge snorted, hopping on top of the dumpster. "What this time?"

"We keep smelling scents of your cats on our territory," the white tom said, flattening his ears. "We'd like you to do something about it, if you would."

"I've told you," Scourge said. "It's none of my business what the rest of the BloodClan cats do. Frankly, Whitestorm, it sounds like you have trouble keeping _your_ borders from being crossed."

Whitestorm flattened his ears, twitching his tail slightly. "Even still, I wish you would heed our concerns. We can only live in peace with BloodClan if we respect each other's borders."

Scourge flicked his tail. "Hm."

"And-" the golden tom said. "It's best to keep peace right now, considering we've already lost so many to ShadowClan this season- _both_ of us." he gave a pointed look at Scourge.

"You think talking about it will help?" Scourge narrowed his eyes. "You think complaining and openly waging war will get you anywhere? I want ShadowClan's leader dead as much as you do, Lionheart, but you're going to get your entire Clan wiped out with this attitude."

"Isn't it worth fighting back?" Rusty piped up. "If it's for the cats you care about?"

The forest cats stared in his direction, and Rusty gave a self-conscious lick to his chest.

The gray tom was the only one who spoke. "Who's the kittypet?"

Rusty shifted on his paws, flicking his tail. "I'm Rusty."


End file.
